By Stacey E. Bueche
Stacey: Interviews
Prince Paul: I feel like this- if somebody wants to interview you AT ALL, it's a big deal, because obviously, there are a LOT of people I
know out there that feel like, "Damn, I wish somebody would interview
me!" There have been times when NO one wants to hear anything you have
to say.
Stacey: Keeping A Low Profile
Prince Paul: I don't worry about popularity, and I'm not one big on social media, like most people. I can't do that. I'm pretty private.
The other thing, too, is that I've always lived below my means. It's
not a matter of me hustling, feeling that I have to work all the time. I
don't feel like "I've got to get that gig for $100.00," to keep my name
out there. So when I DO work, it's more for fun than profit. I do
need to make X amount of dollars, but it's also a matter of me being shy
and a bit anti-social...
I'm able to keep that without having to be somebody I'm not, by going
out to and being like "Man, I gotta get that radio gig," etc. The
things you see me doing primarily are for fun (not 100%)...
Stacey: First Music Memory
Prince Paul: Music, whatever's going on, is the soundtrack of your life. In the very beginning, I remember the wind-up Fisher-Price toy, playing melodies (2-3 years old). Then, it's my Dad playing the radio, and me sitting with my Dad (who was into hard-core jazz like Thelonius Monk, Coltrane...) which wasn't too pleasing
for a child. My Mom listened to early R&B, and then I had older
siblings who were teenagers, and they listened to the radio all the
time... So it's a combination of them all.
Stacey: DJ Prince Paul, The Early Years
Prince Paul: I was 11 when I started deejaying-
I was young. You don't get any respect as a DJ when you're 11 trying
to DJ. Everything at that time was based on spinning "SUCKER DJ..." In
the 8th grade, for me it was "Genius Of Love," Tom Tom Club. When I
first started it was Grandmaster Flash, Fearless Four, Treacherous
Three, The Crash Crew, The Disco Four...In hindsight, not ALL of them were great...
Stacey: DJ Extraordinaire Prince Paul
Prince Paul: Everything is based on
power. I had the skills. I'd see what Theodore (Grandwizzard
Theodore), DST, Jazzy Jay, and all of them were doing, and then try to
step it up a little more. In High School, I thought I was pretty good.
For 17, I was pretty good.
Friends of mine in Long Island were going to Brooklyn, packing up the van with equipment, and they asked if I wanted to go, I said "No, I'm going to stay here and ride my bike," (I had a Schwinn at the time)... I thought about it, and, I was like, "Yeah, I'm gonna go." So I asked my Mom, put my bike up, and went down there.So this was in '83-'84, and there were 3 DJs, almost like a battle, and I was doing tricks (I guess you'd call it turntablism), and I was showing off, under the leg, with the mouth, and THAT drew the attention of Stet. So they approached me, "Man, YOU got what we're looking for." At first, I thought they were gang members, but then it was hard to tell. Remember they're older, and Daddy had beads, long braids and spikes- it was indicative of that "Beat Street" era. "Yo, we need a DJ- would you be interested? Yo, we just won Mr. Magic's Rap Attack Contest at Coney Island, and we've
got a human mix machine, and we won a deal with Sugarhill." So I know
Brooklyn (because my Grandmother lives there), and I met with Stet, and
became their DJ.
Next thing I know, we're making a DEMO (who knew what a DEMO was?). I had no idea what was going on.
Stacey: Please Listen To My Demo
Prince Paul: I was a kid. Making a record wasn't the first thing to do- People were still rappin' to be rappin', not rappin' for profit, and making money, or just for fame... so to make a record was so out of the question, and then when it happened, I was like "Whoa!
I'm signing a contract for what? What is this again?" I was 17, but I told them I was 18 so I could sign the contract.
What happened with the
Mr. Magic Rap Attack was a really bad record deal with Sugarhill
Records, so we demoed "Just Say Stet" and we did a little show at Harlem
Week- remember at this point, we were just going around doing gigs
willing to do gigs- Harlem Week, Disco Fever, The Roxy- wherever we
could get on at. I think Tom Silverman saw us at Harlem Week, and we
had the place rocking yet nobody knew who we were! Tom said "If you
ever make something, come check us (Tommy Boy) out." We handed him the
tape, "Just Say Stet," and he said "Yo, I want to sign y'all..." AND it
was a MUCH better deal than Sugarhill (in hindsight not a good deal at
all, but much better than Sugarhill)...
The ironic part is, that
our demo of "Just Say Stet," Tom Silverman wanted to re-record in HIS
studio. Which we come to find out later, to record in his studio meant
we owed him money, because there's recoupment for studio
time. As it turns out, the studio was in his apartment and somehow the
bill came out to $10,000.00... I don't know HOW that happened. That's
how things are.
I went there, and I
remember I knew specifically what I wanted to scratch on the record. I
only brought those records with me. I remember Tom & Daddy-O had
the same sentiment. "What kind of DJ is this? He only has X amount of
records- why is HE a DJ?" DISSING ME. Like saying they should get rid
of me because I was WACK! Because I wasn't prepared as much as he
thought a DJ should be in that situation. But I studied, and knew
exactly where I wanted to cut the records... the ironic part is that I
made him so much money based on De La Soul and everything else, that if
they fired me, I doubt that Tommy Boy (as a Label would not have had
such success, based on the money Silverman made off of Prince Paul's
contributions) would've ever happened...
Stacey: DJ to Producer Extraordinaire
Prince Paul: Going into Stetsasonic I
was ahead of them in terms of drum programming, because as you know,
Grandmaster Flash was the first one to introduce the beatbox. So if
you're a DJ, it's a natural progression to have- automatically you
wanted a drum machine, figured out what it was, and got one. So I was
doing that already with an 808. So when we started making the first
album, I said "Hey, I got some ideas," and they happened to pick two of
them. One was a song called "Bust That Groove," and the other was the
title track, "On Fire." I was a really good DJ. I mean really really
good, and I remember wanting to do really fancy scratches and cuts, and
remember them going "NAH, man. You gotta do like Jam-Master JayTone
that back!" They were really into a structure. I'm all over the place-
that's where we butted heads. I was
respected for my talent, but I was not AS respected because of my
age... To fast forward a bit...
Stacey: Thank God for De La...
Prince Paul: I knew it (De La Soul's
debut LP, "3 Feet High and Rising") was different at the time, but you
can't gauge something like that, because who's done it before. Put it
like this, when we made that record, we were kids having fun. The fact
that we found each other, it's almost like having your hip-hop soul
mate. The weird way that I thought, and the weird way that they
thought- and then we were put together? It wasn't like I had a sound
yet, so that they could determine "We should work with him," nor did I
know how they rhymed, because I was just put on to them. Just because
we went to the same High School, I didn't know they rhymed. It has been
just a weird kind of life changing experience, where we were put
together, and it worked out. We got along so well- we laughed, we
joked, we experimented- where I didn't have the freedom with
Stetsasonic, with
them, they thought I was cool because I had a record out. As much as I
didn't know, I still got the respect from them. It was a lot of fun.
As much as I felt dissed by Stet, I used that energy with De La, and
producing De La, I was like "Hey, whatever I did you got. Whatever you
guys want to try, let's try it. Let's facilitate it. I'll make it
work. Tell me what you guys want to do, and listen to what I do, and
let's just have fun."
I did that. They'll
tell you, on that first record, everything- every idea they had, I
said, "Let's do it. Let's record it." There's a difference between
recording it, and listening to it, and then say no- rather than say no
before even trying it. That's what I was used to with Stet- "Let's try
thi..." cut off by the sound of Stet saying "NO man..." I thought,
"I'm not going to do that. I'm going to treat these guys differently.
Treat them like they're humans, man (in Prince Paul's semi-sarcastic
voice, garnering many laughs as always)..." And that's what I did.
That's how we did it. We had a lot of fun... and it worked!
Stacey: Solo Work
Prince Paul: Kool Keith has always
been around, they (Ultramagnetic MCs) recorded their first record in the
same studio De La recorded their first record. People think he's
crazy. In a conversation he'll repeat the same thing over and over
again, like "Yeah man, Yin Yang twins, man, what's up with that? Yeah
man, Yin Yang Twins..." But you know what the crazy thing is, is that's
one side of him- he's entertaining, he's funny, a great guy to chat
with. But when we got to working, and we worked on "Prince Among
Thieves" together, I said "Yo, here's what I need you to do. You're
name's Crazy Lou, and you are a weapons specialist. So I just need you
to rhyme about all the types of guns you sell." He was like, "Okay."
I recorded him and
Everlast the same day somewhere in L.A. He came in there and said, "I
got almost all the rhymes written out," and he had a gun magazine with
him. I was so impressed with the fact that he took time and did the
research what I asked him to do. He didn't take it lightly. The fact
that he was so on point and professional and knocked it out so quick,
and did it in that capacity, that it overshadowed all that "Yo, Keith is
crazy!" He was mad professional, on point, you can't get better than
that. He did his job, so I have mad respect for him- as a person, too-
but he doesn't come to play, he comes to work.
I did "Psychoanalysis,"
"The Gas Face," with 3RD Bass, I did a Big Daddy Kane record, I did
Queen Latifah, Slick Rick, Boogie Down Productions, Vernon Reid's solo
album, and of course I did The Gravediggaz... and, I don't know if
we're coming back. Talking to RZA, before this movie came out, he was
talking about, "Yeah man, let's do another Gravediggaz record, let's do
another Gravediggaz record," for a while, and then Poetic passed away.
To me, he was a big part of what we did, and the fans are demanding it.
Either let's do another record, or call it quits. It really depends
on RZA'a availability, because, of course, he's the RZA. So I'm like
"Hey, when you got time, you got time." When it happens, it happens...
